Post Hick, Ergo Propter Hick
Why on earth CNN continues to wheel out Erick Erickson, the three-chinned pundit with a Pa Kettle accent and a mind as sharp as a Velveeta wedge, continues to elude me, particularly after Erickson’s let-them-eat-dirt comments about the unemployed last night on AC360. Erick claimed that the only people who would have been benefited by the extension of jobless benefits were “the ones who are going to be able to collect unemployment benefits for some more instead of going out to look for a job.”
But the best part was this little gem from Erickson:
You know, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the states that pay the least amount of unemployment benefits over time have the lowest unemployment and when we keep subsidizing the behavior, the behavior continues.
This is not the first time that Erick has used this line of reasoning. Back when he was on the city council of Copperhead Junction, Georgia, the townfolk became alarmed one year at a sudden increase in snake bites in their little town and, as councilman Erick had the most book-learning of anyone in the town, they asked him to figure out a solution. So Erik did a little research, or rather he asked Effie at the town library to do some research for him, and she discovered an amazing statistic: places with the least number of people treated for snake bites had less snakes than places with more people treated for snake bites. The very next day Erick introduced a resolution, which the town council immediately passed, to forbid treating snake bite victims since the statistics showed that would lower the number of snakes in the town. Several funerals later, the townspeople urged that the law be repealed, but Erick stuck to his guns. “Listen, y’all, if you let people get treated for snake bites, then everybody all over town is going to be running out and trying to get bitten by a snake.”
I would call Erick retarded but it would be unduly insulting to the Palin family.
Erick The Half-A-B(rain)
Why is this thread, ostensibly about Error son of Error, adorned with a picture of Jabba du Hutt?
He’s right, though. Look at his own example. His assholery is being subsidized, and he’s continuing to be an asshole.
The doublewide face of Red State has never done an honest day’s work in his life.
“Why is this thread, ostensibly about Error son of Error, adorned with a picture of Jabba du Hutt?”
Bo shuda. Ho ho ho ho.
You know, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the states that pay the least amount of unemployment benefits over time have the lowest unemployment and when we keep subsidizing the behavior, the behavior continues.
When the biggest employer in your state is your uncle and husband, it’s easy to always have a job of some sort, even if it is qualified with the words “hand,” “blow,” and “make-work.”
This is just because you don’t understand the Quantum mechanical property of “correlausation” – that is that two phenomena always have a causal relationship so long as one of the things is a liberal policy and the other is a negative outcome.
What can we say, the laws of physics have a conservative bias. They were written by angry vengeful God after all.
two phenomena always have a causal relationship
I really think Ann Althouse intends to marry Arnold Alkon and so it will start being a committed relationship.
Is there a single economist, even a right-wing hack, who claims that 100% employment is possible in a market-based economy?
Even in the best of times, there’s an irreducible few percent who can’t find work. But let’s treat them like shit, just because.
Another Althouse photo?
What?
I know when I was unemployed for nearly a year all I tried to do was stay unemployed because of the ridiculous amount of cash they gave us. I would “send out resumes” but really I was just living the High Life on $365 a week.
Now, that may not sound like much but do the math. 365×4=1460/month. Now, 1460×12= a cool 17,520/yr. Now that’s some good living. Seriously, it was awesome. I got to move back in with my parents and got a job makin’ sammiches at the local deli. I was living the life. I can only imagine how jealous Erick Eric Erik Erickson is.. not of my pay, he makes waayy more with his TV appearances, “writing,” et al., I’m talking about my intellect because it’s, you know, functioning.
I’m reminded of the title of the last chapter of INGLOUIOUS BASTERDS: “Revenge of the Giant Face.” Although I’m not exactly sure what Erick thinks he is avenging.
Regardless, that caption should be simply: “No Photoshop performed on this picture.” The horror, the horror.
…two phenomena always have a causal relationship so long as one of the things is a liberal policy and the other is a negative outcome.
PeeJ’s Lemma: cause and effect have a casual relationship so long as there’s a whingnut involved.
not of my pay, he makes waayy more with his TV appearances, “writing,” et al
I doubt it.
He does, however, earn more at the truck stop on I-80, so long as he wears the mask.
He does, however, earn more at the truck stop on I-80
Only if they pay by the pound.
You’re making up the City Council snake story, right? Right?
continues to wheel out Erick Erickson
Wheel out?
Is he such a disgusting fat body that they need a hand truck to get him out onto the set? Or do they borrow this from NOAA?
It’s not even that. These are people who had jobs. People who, are inclined to work. Who clearly prefer working to unemployment.
AAAIIYEEE Teh whinger stØØpid™ it burnssssses!!
this sort of thinking makes my brain hurt.
Or do they borrow this from NOAA?
They’d need to replace it with an Unbreakable Diamond Tether first.
Erick Eric Erik Erickson’s previous CNN appearance was pretty blahhh too.
Someone is going to end up with his head on a pike, mouth stuffed full of turf grass.
Is he such a disgusting fat body that they need a hand truck to get him out onto the set?
Yes.
SASQ
Your new favourite song:
Look, no one is going to deny that it happens: there are people who want to scam the system to take advantage of the cracks in the sidewalk where they can slip into and game some free money off the rest of us.
It’s a small number, to be sure. Look at where unemployment ends up when jobs are plentiful. 4 percent. Sometimes lower. Of that four percent, I’d wager the largest proportion is people who’s companies closed and are in between jobs. Business is not static. Small business doubly so.
The average start up company fails within three years. That’s three years to gather up some employees before you fall off the cliff. Multiply that by the thousands of small businesses that fail every year, and you have an idea that four percent unemployment sounds like it might be too low a figure.
So really, we’re talking about tenths of a percent of people who want to game the system.
I’ve been unemployed. Yea, there were weeks during Bush the Elder’s administration when I got so frustrated looking for work that I basically gave up the search and said “I’ll live off my UI”
But it’s not like I was living a lavish lifestyle, unless ramen noodles and Minute Rice is suddenly luxury (go ahead!).
I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t want to earn a living instead of living off handouts and the public dole. Not a one. I challenge Irk Irkedsome to produce even one person who fits his description of these slackers.
Why on earth CNN continues to wheel out Erick Erickson, the three-chinned pundit with a Pa Kettle accent and a mind as sharp as a Velveeta wedge, continues to elude me
Affirmative action for knuckle-dragging yahoos!
Your new favourite song:
Is she on steroids? Did she have cancer or something? She looks horribly bloated.
It’s odd – I do everything I can to keep from subsidizing stupidity, and yet the behavior continues!
Fuck this.
I’m guessing that Irky Irksome’s appearance was shortly before Bunning folded like a lawn chair on Labour Day (reluctantly, drunkenly, and probably causing injury). Huzzah for Irk! The shit that guy flings from his mouth-hole is made irrelevant faster than anything.
“My new favorite song”
The comments are a joy to behold as well as the “um’s” and “uh’s” within the “evidence.”
Another note: how does a corporatist democrat become a communist?
You know, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the states that pay the least amount of attention to teh stoopid over time have the lowest attention spans and when we keep subsidizing teh stoopid, the behavior continues.
how does a corporatist democrat become a communist?
Fixed to highlight self-referential irony.
Erick = the love child of Tweety + Pumpkinhead
An excess of arugula in the bloodstream
Fuck this.
Sad news. And fuck my timing. I suppose the drawback of making lots of pithy little comments is that you run the risk of coming up immediately after serious news.
I can’t get to Watson’s link. What happened?
Christ, I have either had too much coffee or not enough.
I could swear the label on one of the meds I just picked up read “Keep Out Of Reach Of Druids”.
I could swear the label on one of the meds I just picked up read “Keep Out Of Reach Of Druids”.
Is that Wickercillin?
It’s a small number, to be sure. Look at where unemployment ends up when jobs are plentiful. 4 percent. Sometimes lower. Of that four percent, I’d wager the largest proportion is people who’s companies closed and are in between jobs. Business is not static. Small business doubly so.
When we complain about 4-6% unemployment we are told (by right wing laissez-faire types) that it is “structural” and that it is not only impossible, but undesirable to reduce unemployment to zero. That would have a devastating inflationary effect*
*You see, if everyone has a job, employers must compete to attract workers, leading to a rise in wages. This would result in inflation and
a transfer of wealth from the lending class to the debtor classthe total annihilation of everything. This is why the Fed must intervene to squeeze credit so that companies cannot afford to hire too many people. This is also the ONLY legitimate interference into the free markets, and the reason that the Fed is too important to be elected.You know the other thing they never bring up, actor? That every week you work, you pay for unemployment. Look at your paystub, if you still get one, it’s called “U/C Tax”.
So, if you’re like most people I know currently on unemployment, you paid your U/C Tax faithfully, week after week for years and now all the wingnuts are whingeing that you’re just a lazy parasite now that you’re getting a little bit of it back.
Unbelievable.
PF,
Good point. Not only that, but your UI benefits are taxable but have no withholdings, so at the end of the year, you’re usually socked with a big ass tax bill.
Jon Swift died. His mom wrote about it in comments.
NO!
Dang, that is sad. Jon Swift was one of my favorite sites in the dark days of W.
Jon Swift died. His mom wrote about it in comments.
That’s terrible, especially in light of his own loss- his family must be devastated.
Ya know, if Irksome and the right really gave a shit about government waste, we’d hear them whining from the rooftops about the billions upon billions of $$$ in defense contractor fraud.
We don’t, though, do we?
Nope.
What this is really about is the type of people receiving these UI benefits. Or, rather, the type of people Irksome thinks are receiving them. And that’s brown people.
Ever since Reagan’s team yanked the “Look at the welfare queens!” line out of their collective asses, way, way too many people on the right have been convinced that there are literally millions upon millions of people living a life of luxury on the taxpayers’ dime. Granted, no one has ever been able to actually find all of these welfare queens, nor has the right ever made a real effort to root out fraud, nor have they actually talked to anyone on these benefits to find out if one can, in fact, buy a brand new Caddy with food stamps.
What matters for them is that “their” money is being given to those Not Like Them. And if they just had that money, their thinking goes, they’d really be able to make it to the top! The fact they only truly contribute a few dozen bucks a year to such programs is irrelevant.
All that matters is punishing poor black people for daring to be poor black people, and creating an economic system that ensures they remain poor black people.
It’s really that simple.
Jon was one of my favorite bloggers, someone who always had time to e-mail a kind word if he thought I was particularly funny in comments or if he really enjoyed one of my posts.
Words fail me.
Steve Gilliard, Molly Ivins, now this. Everyone that made the Bush years bearable is slipping away. What’s next? Jon Stewart? The Onion?
Oh dear … Jon Swift was one of my faves.
::moment of silence::
Fucking shit, that sucks.
Here’s Weisel’s page.
For me, it proves there is no justice in the world.
I mean, those were people who spoke the god-honest truth and backed it up with evidence. Their opinions were based in reality, not ideology.
If there were justice, that list would read: “Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and now Sen. Jim Bunning. What’s next? Hannity? Fox News?”
Oh well …
Ped, I’d trade all the Daily Shows from here to the end of this decade for one last post by Swift. He was that funny.
Wait…THIS was Swift?
No wonder he never had time to blog!
Ped, I’d trade all the Daily Shows from here to the end of this decade for one last post by Swift. He was that funny.
No argument there.
Remember when he did that list of conservative movies, spoofing the whole Top Ten thing? That was the funniest thing I’ve read in ages.
Can’t someone shoot Victoria Jackson through the ringing void that is her head, and put her, and Earth, out of our misery? “He taught a course on Saul Alinsky.”
Then again, as an example of someone who openly adores Beck, Hannity, and Mike Huckabee, who better than this blithering idiot, who probably couldn’t spell “communist” if you spotted her eight letters?
I could swear the label on one of the meds I just picked up read “Keep Out Of Reach Of Druids”.
Must be an ointment for mistle toe.
“Keep Out Of Reach Of Druids”.
Side effects may include blurred Far-Vision, dowsingness and Pythagorean metempsychosis.
Wait. Is this about welfare and unemployment benefits, or is this about corporate welfare? I forget.
Look, no one is going to deny that it happens:
You know what else happens?
Wait…THIS was Swift?
No wonder he never had time to blog!
His talents were multifarious.
“He taught a course on Saul Alinsky.”
I know I’ve written this before, but every mention of Saul Alinsky sounds like dogwhistle for “Jewy Jew Jew (and not the
gooduseful ‘Pam Atlas/Bill Kristol’ kind of Jew, don’tcha know)” to me. Does anybody else get that vibe?Public Notice To Republicans:
under the democratic republic form of government, citizens (sometimes known as consumers) create and operate their own government. this kind of government is constituted of citizens. it is owned and operated by citizens. it is not a foreign entity created and run by non-citizens, kings, aliens from outer space, or gigantic computers using artificial intelligence
He died on his way to his father’s funeral.
His heart broke.
Despite being a CNN regular and devoutly pious Xian and defender of Michael Steele, I am favourably impressed with Roland Martin’s performance as depicted in the linked transcript. Sure going up against Irky Irksome is like getting into an ass kicking contest with a paraplegic that’s got hiphop booty, still the execution was quite nice.
I would call Erick retarded but it would be unduly insulting to the Palin family.
Awesome gratuitous…ness. Gratuity? Wait, here’s Victoria Jackson; let’s ask her. She’ll know!
Hey, now, Victoria Jackson is very amusing… as long as her mouth is shut.
I understand there are some shops in NYC (and elsewhere) where you can buy equipment to assure just that condition and I will go no further into detail lest I say too much.
😉
I understand there are some shops in NYC
I’ve never seen those.
*glaring*
Why am I getting this feeling that Victoria Jackson is Ann Althouse’s slightly dumber cousin?
You know, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the states that pay the least amount of unemployment benefits over time have the lowest unemployment
You know, whenever one of these assholes ever states what appears to be a fact, they’re almost always just laying a steaming turd of bullshit out there. Whether this hick or Bobo Brooks, actual facts are their worst enemies:
Here are the 15 states (including DC) with the most unemployment in 2009, followed by their 2009 rank in unemployment benefits (1 being highest benefits) Forgive the lack of formatting.
Or if you prefer, the 15 states with the lowest unemployment benefits followed by unemployment rank (1 being highest unemployment):
So sad to hear about Jon Swift. Everybody should join that Facebook group as a tribute:
http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=Friends+of+Al+Weisel%2C+Unite
Einrich is right, people. This is why I kicked my children out of the house. Feeding them just encourages them to be hungry. It’s called tough love, people.
The Growing Face of Red State looks strangely familar.
(provided for photshop love).
Why didn’t he just have all the snakes whacked?
http://www.thesimpsons.com/episode_guide/0420.htm
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the states that pay the least amount of unemployment benefits over time have the lowest unemployment
By Jove, he’s right!
Pay less bennies & your proles are more likely to give up looking for work faster & turn to crime, thus shrinking the unemployment stats! BOOYAH!
Not to mention the added incentive a poverty-draft provides otherwise reticent peons to go see exciting exotic people in far-away lands & frag them. It’s a win-win (if your name happens to be Halliburton or SAIC)!
Just remember to keep your doors locked & your TeeVees on at all times, citizens!
The states that arrest the fewest # of people have less crime. Ergo, if we stop arrested people, crime will dissapear.
If we legalise incest, your state could lead the nation in fewest # of incest crimes.
If we pass a law that declares anyone with an I.Q over 80 to be a genius, we can lead the world in genius’.
Irk needed to do more work.
For example, here’s an analysis of unemployment by population density:
You’ll note that of the top ten states in unemployment percentage (as of 2009) only two rank in the bottom half in population density (which also correlates to cost of living, which directly correlates with the amount in unemployment insurance.)
Of the last ten states in population density, only one has a rate over ten percent (roughly the national average)
It gets better.
Of the top ten states in terms of unemployment benefits paid, only one ranks in the bottom half of population density
So Irk’s little benefits = unemployment is absolute and utter bullshit.
Why on earth CNN continues to wheel out Erick Erickson, the three-chinned pundit with a Pa Kettle accent and a mind as sharp as a Velveeta wedge, continues to elude me
I had a conservative explain to me that the networks wheel out people like this because they are all liberals who make sure to pick out the most outrageous and idiotic conservatives just to make the right look bad.
Outrageous and idiotic like Sarah Palin? Newt Gingrich? How about Bill Kristol or John Boehner?
I mean, what conservatives would be acceptable to this tool? Rush Limbaugh? He is helpless without his caller abort button and adoring dittohead callers.
Or how about Dick Cheney and his hellspawn? Are those also the most outrageous and idiotic?